i have only read the first half of this thread due to time restraints. i find something lacking here, however.

is baptism essential for salvation? ABSOLUTELY YES! i will explain.

as someone already pointed out, the condemned in hell KNOW that Jesus is the Savior, and so do the devil and his demons. yet, they have not, and will not be saved. what is missing?

the HOLY SPIRIT, because ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN WORK FAITH IN US, and faith is necessary to be saved (knowledge alone is not sufficient for salvation). sola fide. the act of baptism confers the remission of sins upon us. thru baptism, we share in Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. baptism shows (proves) what the HOLY SPIRIT does, not anything we do to gain salvation. only thru this rebirth (water, blood, and HOLY SPIRIT) can we be saved.

insofar as the thief is concerned, i do not recall that the bible has anything to say about whether or not he had previously been baptized; perhaps he had. but even if he had not, he KNEW that Jesus was the Christ. the thief asked for salvation. Jesus, being God, granted salvation unto him. do any of you have any doubt that Jesus can do this?

as to the “Jesus had not yet died on the cross” argument, i submit to you that Jesus himself was baptized by John before Jesus died on the cross. and so were a lot of others baptized by John. and John was not the only one baptizing. yet, all of those who were baptized were still saved, and this was all done before Jesus died on the cross. Jesus IS the NEW testament; the NEW CONTRACT that God gives to us. the NEW TESTAMENT was in full force the moment Jesus was born. (the “curtain” ripping in half, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the holy place, is what spelled the end of the OLD TESTAMENT, at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross.)

in summation:
1. baptism is necessary for salvation.
2. in baptism, the water is the outward sign of being washed clean in the blood of Christ, and washes away our sins.
3. baptism is an action by God alone, not of anything we do, “lest any man should boast”.
4. only the Holy Spirit can give us faith, and faith is necessary for salvation.
5. if you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior from all sin, death, and the power of the devil, then you WILL be baptized as Christ has commanded us.

i will check back later to follow this up. in the meantime, i ask God to bless you all most abundantly! pray to Him for the gifts of His Holy Spirit!

in His love;

doug

Mark 16:16
Acts 2:38
Acts 22:16
Romans 6
John 3:3;23
I pet 3:21
Acts 8
Acts 16

“All seem to suggest that baptism has something to do with sins being washed away, salvation and a response to our faith in Jesus. These are words the Bible uses. I don’t really care what any church or denomination teaches but I do care what the Bible says. The Bible says we are saved by grace and I believe that. The Bible says we are saved by our faith in Jesus and I believe that and the Bible says baptism washes your sins away and saves you and I believe that. It all is completely Gods grace working through faith and Gods command to be baptized.”

I think the doctrine schism started when “someone” took verses from the Bible out of context and chose to ignore certain other scriptures in order to formulate their own doctrine. This is rather easy to do with the Bible or any other book. When one reads the whole Bible in context with itself then one can get a full doctrine of what God really wants. Everyone must come to his/her own faith and one should not blindly follow another man especially when it comes to understanding God’s beloved gift of the Word. Have you ever considered that a man could be wrong? Even one with many diplomas? Acts 17:11. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (NIV) Now if what Paul was preaching was examined, then how much more should anyone else?

I believe that the fullness of baptism is a wonderful work of God. There are many promises that are held within it that you will discover if you search for it.

36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

According to v37, if one believes with all their heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God then there’s nothing that can hinder them from being baptized.

Now the immediate and sensible reaction would be that a child (in this case a 2 month old) would not be able to acknowledge whether they believe in their heart that Jesus is the Son of God so they shouldn’t be baptized until they do know. However, a question does arise in my mind which I’ve yet to seek an answer in the bible…would the sanctification of a child through their parent’s faith qualify the child to be baptized? God bless your family!